METHUEN — The man who robbed the Co-operative Bank on Broadway on St. Patrick's Day might be the same person who robbed the Dunkin' Donuts less than a half-mile away earlier this month, police said yesterday.
"Based on the security camera video, he fits the same general description," said Lt. Michael Wnek, head of the criminal investigation division for the Methuen police.
Wednesday, a heavyset male in his 20s wearing a white baseball cap and sporting a scruffy beard passed a note to a teller saying he had a gun and wanted money. He was given a "small amount of money," according to bank President Harold Otto, and fled out the back door and up Park Street.
Police carrying assault rifles and escorting a K-9 patrol searched the area but came up empty. However, the incident prompted a lockdown at Tenney Grammar School just around the corner from the bank.
Thursday, March 4, a similarly-clad man entered the Dunkin' Donuts at the corner of Broadway and Chase Street near the Lawrence line and demanded money from the clerk behind the counter. The man left the building and walked north on Broadway toward Methuen.
Detective Chris Gallant, who is investigating the Dunkin' Donuts robbery, and Detective Michael Blanchette, investigating the bank robbery, agree with Wnek that the same person might have committed both robberies.
"In both cases, he was wearing a heavy black jacket, a white hat and white sneakers," Gallant said. In video stills of the suspect from both the coffee shop and the bank, it appears he has a scruffy beard and mustache.
"I've been here 31 years and this was a first for me," Otto said of the bank robbery. "There may have been an incident like this in the 1960s."
Otto said the teller, a woman, acted professionally and did what she was trained to do, and a recently installed video system captured a crystal clear image of the man.
"You have to wonder if the person (the robber) weighed the consequences of taking such a small amount of money," Otto said. "If you sit down and analyze the consequences, you realize that there are some very desperate people out there."
The Tenney School was advised of the robbery by police shortly after the 911 call came in to police.
Dr. MaryEllen Kelleher, director of pupil services for the district, handled the incident because the superintendent was out of the district. She said the school was having an early release day, so just a small group of students were left there.
She said they were waiting inside and preparing to get on the bus when police called.
Kelleher said a decision was made to put the school into lockdown, which meant bringing the remaining students into a classroom, where the door was locked, the lights turned off and the blinds were drawn.
Part of the protocol includes sliding a green or red card under the door and into the hallway to indicate the status inside the classroom. The staff in the room with the children slid out a red card to indicate that there were children there.
Once the all-clear was given, Kelleher said, Principal Judith Scannell escorted the children onto the bus and actually rode with them, getting out at each stop along the way and briefing waiting parents about why the bus, and their children, were delayed.
"Mrs. Scannell did a tremendous job of monitoring the situation," Kelleher said. "She did everything perfect and appropriate and went above and beyond her normal duties."
